Migration of Yellowstone bison and federal rules on bovine
health were the focus of a U.S. House subcommittee hearing Tuesday in Washington,
D.C. The hearing plowed the same ground the bison debate has occupied for too
many years.

On Aug. 31, 1999, U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbit,
Montana Gov. Marc Racicot, U.S. Sen. Max Baucus and representatives of the Church
Universal and Triumphant were among 250 people attending a ceremony at Corwin
Springs to herald the preservation of thousands of acres of land just outside
Yellowstone's northern boundary. U.S. taxpayers purchased about 8,000 acres
from the church for $13 million.

"This valley is to be available for bison,"
Babbitt said that day. "We need to reach an agreement about a common management
plan."

Stuck on step 1

The bison management plan remains in "step 1" because cattle from
the church's Royal Teton Ranch still graze near the park's north boundary in
winter, Robin Nazzaro, of the General Accountability Office said. When the money
was spent, the participating federal and state agencies expected to obtain grazing
rights by the winter of 2002-03.

"The value of this acquisition for the bison herd
is minimal" without the winter grazing rights, Nazzaro testified.

Testimony at the hearing indicated that the federal government
spent at least $2.4 million in the winter of 2005-06 on monitoring, hazing and
slaughtering Yellowstone bison to keep them away from cattle.
Schweitzer's suggestions

Give Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer credit for at least trying to move the issue
toward resolution. He has been talking to ranchers and had the Montana Department
of Fish, Wildlife and Parks start negotiations with the church on winter grazing
rights. At the House hearing Tuesday, Schweitzer offered some possible solutions
to the subcommittee:

Buy out rights to graze cattle in areas north and west
of the park boundary.

Create a buffer zone around the park where all cattle
entering and leaving would have to be tested for brucellosis and the U.S.
Animal Plant Health Inspection Service would agree that if cattle in the buffer
zone tested positive for the disease, that wouldn't affect the brucellosis-free
status of the 2.5 million Montana cattle outside the zone. A year ago, the
Western States Livestock Association called for such a quarantine area.

Actively manage bison in the park to eradicate brucellosis.
(Because there is no effective brucellosis vaccine for bison, eradication
of the disease could mean eradication of the bison.)

John Clifford, deputy administrator of the Animal Plant
Health Inspection Service, made it clear that the agency isn't in favor of considering
brucellosis risk in the immediate Yellowstone Park separately from the rest
of Montana. Clifford said he saw "no point to changing the program"
that has achieved brucellosis-free status in every state except Idaho and Texas.
(Wyoming lost its status and regained it in recent years.)

Clifford said APHIS "will soon send a letter"
asking agreement of all partner agencies in a long-term bison management plan.
That's what the public thought had been written six years ago.

Protecting cattle, bison

The number of cattle grazing in the bison zone doesn't justify the annual public
expenditure being made to separate these two species. By Schweitzer's estimate,
there are about 700 head of cattle in the areas west and north of the park, but
fewer than 200 are there in the winter. Those are on the Royal Teton Ranch near
Gardiner. Giving bison more room to roam would also allow Montana to improve the
bison hunt it has offered for the past two seasons.

Cattle producers all over Montana deserve to know that their businesses won't
be threatened by something that happens on the edge of Yellowstone Park. Taxpayers
deserve to get more for their millions than they've been getting. The unfinished
plan leaves both the bison and the cattle producers at risk.

Members of the subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands are commended
for shining a light on the unresolved bison issues. Montana's congressional delegation
should start asking hard questions, too. As Schweitzer said in written testimony
to the subcommittee: "Sustainable solutions are long overdue."